Golden Gate Geckos
Mean Old Gecko Lady
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- 12,730
- Location
- SF Bay Area
I had a little Tremper Jungle Carrot-head male hatch at only 29 days. I thought he still had part of his yolk sac umbilicus still attached, and that it would simply fall off. He was weak and very, very tiny,
After 3 days, the appendage had still not come off, and he would try to stand but his back arched... he grimaced and would not open his eyes. I noticed that the tissue was becoming black and necrotic, so I kept antibiotic ointment on it. On the 5th day, I saw that it was actually a loop of his intestine. Apparently, when he came out of his egg the part of the bowel that the umbilical cord was attached to got pulled out. I knew I would have to euthanize him.
On Wednesday, in a last ditch effort, I took a Q-tip soaked in betadyne and gently swabbed the necrotic tissue and that part came off... leaving a healthy, pink loop of bowel! When I pushed on the little preemie's belly, water came out through the abdominal slit, so I knew it hadn't closed up yet. I called my vet, but he was out of the office until today (Friday).
I cleaned the area with Novalsan, peeled most of the cotton off the end of a wet Q-tip, and carefully pushed the loop of bowel back into his abdomen. I pinched the skin of his tummy together, and put a drop of Crazy Glue on the skin to hold it together.
The little fellow was severely dehydrated despite being kept on damp paper towel. I mixed up a small batch of dilute Repti-Aid, and gave him a tiny drop on the end of his nose. He eagerly started licking it, so I gave him a few more drops. He was thirsty!!!
Well, yesterday, I expected to find him dead... but he was standing up and walking around his shoe box normally, and his eyes were open! I gave him more of the drops throughout the day, and low and behold by the afternoon he was busy trying to shed for the first time. I carefully trimmed the skin on his tummy around the glued spot with cuticle scissors so he wouldn't pull it off with the shed.
This morning, he is active and alert, and even bit me! YAY!!! The best part is that there was a healthy urate in his tub.
He's certainly not out of the woods. He still needs to pass a stool, and God willing, if that happens he is at risk for infection from what I did. I would really like to see this little guy survive as much as he seems to want to!
Thanks for letting me ramble...
After 3 days, the appendage had still not come off, and he would try to stand but his back arched... he grimaced and would not open his eyes. I noticed that the tissue was becoming black and necrotic, so I kept antibiotic ointment on it. On the 5th day, I saw that it was actually a loop of his intestine. Apparently, when he came out of his egg the part of the bowel that the umbilical cord was attached to got pulled out. I knew I would have to euthanize him.
On Wednesday, in a last ditch effort, I took a Q-tip soaked in betadyne and gently swabbed the necrotic tissue and that part came off... leaving a healthy, pink loop of bowel! When I pushed on the little preemie's belly, water came out through the abdominal slit, so I knew it hadn't closed up yet. I called my vet, but he was out of the office until today (Friday).
I cleaned the area with Novalsan, peeled most of the cotton off the end of a wet Q-tip, and carefully pushed the loop of bowel back into his abdomen. I pinched the skin of his tummy together, and put a drop of Crazy Glue on the skin to hold it together.
The little fellow was severely dehydrated despite being kept on damp paper towel. I mixed up a small batch of dilute Repti-Aid, and gave him a tiny drop on the end of his nose. He eagerly started licking it, so I gave him a few more drops. He was thirsty!!!
Well, yesterday, I expected to find him dead... but he was standing up and walking around his shoe box normally, and his eyes were open! I gave him more of the drops throughout the day, and low and behold by the afternoon he was busy trying to shed for the first time. I carefully trimmed the skin on his tummy around the glued spot with cuticle scissors so he wouldn't pull it off with the shed.
This morning, he is active and alert, and even bit me! YAY!!! The best part is that there was a healthy urate in his tub.
He's certainly not out of the woods. He still needs to pass a stool, and God willing, if that happens he is at risk for infection from what I did. I would really like to see this little guy survive as much as he seems to want to!
Thanks for letting me ramble...
